Choong Hoon Lim, Tywan G. Martin and Dae Hee Kwak

The current study employs the hedonic paradigm model (Hirschman & Holbrook, 1982) to investigate the interceding function of emotions on the relationship between personality (i.e., risk taking) and attitude toward mixed martial arts. This study also examines sport-media (e.g., television) consumption of a nontraditional sport. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the proposed model incorporating risk taking, pleasure, arousal, attitude, and actual consumption behavior. The study found a significant mediation effect of emotion (pleasure and arousal) in the relationship between risk taking and attitude. In addition, attitude showed a direct and significant influence on actual media-consumption behavior. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed, along with future directions for research.

Greg A. Shelley, Cynthia A. Trowbridge and Nicole Detling

Lynne Halley Johnston and Douglas Carroll

Twelve seriously injured athletes were asked to describe the provision of eight functional types of support during their rehabilitation. NUD*IST (Nonnumerical Unstructured Data Indexing Searching and Theorizing) was used to organize the data. Overall, the provision of social support largely matched demand. Emotional and practical forms of support decreased with time, while varieties of informational support were increasingly received and preferred over time. The provision of informational and emotional support appeared to be dictated by four temporally sequential appraisals: injury severity, rehabilitation progress, recovery/readiness to return, and sports performance. Practical support in the form of personal assistance greatly depended upon the visibility of the injury and the mobility of the injured athlete. Physiotherapists, doctors, and other currently or previously injured athletes were most likely to provide informational support requiring expert medical knowledge, whereas coaches provided informational support requiring sport-specific expertise. Friends and family were the main source of emotional and practical support. The situational and temporal context of the provision of support is represented diagrammatically.

Catherine E. Amiot, Patrick Gaudreau and Céline M. Blanchard

The aim of the present study was to verify, during a stressful sport competition, the associations between motivational antecedents and consequences of the coping process. Using a two-wave design, we tested a model that incorporates motivational orientations, coping dimensions, goal attainment, and affective states among athletes (N = 122). Path analyses using EQS revealed that self-determination toward sport positively predicted the use of task-oriented coping strategies during a stressful sport competition, while non-self-determined motivation predicted the use of disengagement-oriented coping strategies. Task-oriented coping, in turn, was positively associated with the level of goal attainment experienced in the competition, whereas disengagement-oriented coping was negatively associated with goal attainment. Finally, level of goal attainment was positively linked to an increase in positive emotional states from pre- to postcompetition, and negatively associated with an increase in negative emotional states. Findings are discussed in light of coping frameworks, self-determination theory, and the consequences of motivational and coping processes on psychological functioning.

Thierry R.F. Middleton, Montse C. Ruiz and Claudio Robazza

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of music on swimmers’ preperformance psychobiosocial states. A purposeful sample of competitive swimmers (N = 17) participated in a 5-week intervention grounded in the individual zones of optimal functioning (IZOF) model. Findings showed that (a) preperformance psychobiosocial states differentiated between best and worst performances, (b) swimmers improved their ability to regulate preperformance states through the use of music, and (c) the use of music had a positive impact on swimmers’ perceived effectiveness of preperformance routines. Furthermore, swimmers’ qualitative reports indicated that music use was made more purposeful due to the introduction of a music intervention. The current study provides preliminary evidence in support of the use of music during preperformance routines as an effective tool to regulate athletes’ preperformance states. Athletes are encouraged to engage in the process of carefully selecting music in accordance with individualized profiles related to optimal performance states.

Ken Lodewyk and Lauren McNamara

Purpose: This study assessed students’ levels and associations between recess enjoyment, positive affect, environmental factors, and activity preferences overall and as a function of gender and developmental level. Methods: An online survey was used to gather data from 464 students in Grades 4–8 from nine elementary schools in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Results: When the variance explained by gender and developmental level was controlled for in this study, both recess environment and activity preferences accounted for a significant portion of the variability related to affect and enjoyment of recess. Having equipment and space and preference for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, organizing and playing games, and free time predicted both affect and enjoyment. Conclusion: These and other findings enable educators to progress in understanding how they might adjust approaches to recess to facilitate more enjoyment and positive affect in elementary school students especially by gender and developmental level.

Martin J. Turner and Jamie B. Barker

The use of rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) in sport psychology has received scant research attention. Therefore, little is known about how REBT can be adopted by sport psychology practitioners. This paper principally outlines how practitioners can use REBT on a one-to-one basis to reduce irrational beliefs in athletes. Guidance is offered on the introduction of REBT to applied contexts, the REBT process through which an athlete is guided, and offers an assessment of the effectiveness of REBT with athletes. It is hoped that this paper will encourage other practitioners to adopt REBT in their work and to report their experiences.

Ryan Sides, Graig Chow and Gershon Tenenbaum

The purpose of this study was to explore adaptation through the manipulation of perceived task difficulty and self-efficacy to challenge the concepts postulated by the two-perception probabilistic concept of the adaptation phenomenon (TPPCA) conceptual framework. Twenty-four randomized performers completed a handgrip and putting task, at three difficulty levels, to assess their self-efficacy and perceived task difficulty interactions on motivations, affect, and performances. The TPPCA was partially confirmed in both tasks. Specifically, as the task difficulty level increased, arousal increased, pleasantness decreased, and the performance declined. There was no solid support that motivational adaptations were congruent with the TPPCA. The findings pertaining to the human adaptation state represent a first step in encouraging future inquiries in this domain. The findings clarify the notion of perceived task difficulty and self-efficacy discrepancy, which then provokes cognitive appraisals and emotional resources to produce an adaptation response.